Jan Bosch shows how the the tiny Rescuez ID tag could be placed on a passport

Telecoms professional Jan Bosch has come up with a new concept for an emergency identification device that could be used in hospital A&E departments to identify patients with conditions such as epilepsy and diabetes. He has just launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform, with the aim of raising funds to help bring his Rescuez innovation to market.

Bosch, who has Type 2 diabetes, initially came up with concept for Rescuez as an alternative to the ID bracelets that people with medical conditions currently wear.

The Canadian-born entrepreneur has been living in Ireland for the past 35 years. He recently completed the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers programme at both Dundalk Institute of Technology and Dublin City University. Before that he was managing director at Konvergence where he completed designs for deployments for the Metropolitan Area Networks. He is also a former vice-chairman of the Irish Internet Association.

Genesis of Rescuez innovation

When he was first diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes nine years ago, Bosch says he went to a pharmacy to buy himself an identity bracelet.

“The bracelet went back into the drawer after two months," he explains. And from speaking with others who have diabetes, Bosch says that the general consensus is that people don’t wear these bracelets because they are too bulky.

“I spoke with a paramedic a few weeks ago and he had never picked somebody up in an ambulance who was wearing an emergency bracelet."

Having thought about whether there could be an alternative, he came up with the idea for Rescuez as an ID tag that could be placed on a person’s keys, mobile phone or wallet.

“I developed a tiny label that has a unique ID to link you to the medical emergency information that you have stored," explains Bosch.

The way Rescuez will work is that people will be able to input medical details about themselves – such as allergies, existing medical conditions, family medical history and next-of-kin information – into a database. They will then get tiny ID tags about the size of a cent, to attach onto an everyday item, explains Bosch.

The idea of the tag is that medical professionals will be able to quickly identify a person in an emergency situation and to determine if they have a condition such as diabetes or an allergy.

While in many instances people will not have allergies, illnesses or be on medications, he argues that this information will still be important if an individual is ever taken into hospital unconscious to enable doctors make a diagnosis faster.

Storing the information

Bosch says that the Rescuez information would be stored in a secure cloud-based database.

“There would be a web front on the database and the hospital would have password-protected access to that," he explains.

The next step will be to talk to A&E departments about how they could integrate the platform into their services. The goal would be that doctors could input the Rescuez ID number online and access a person’s medical details.

“I have been talking to A&E consultants in different hospitals to get their handle on Rescuez. It is being talked about in the community already," says Bosch.

Crowdfunding goals

As for his crowdfunding ambitions, Bosch is hoping to raise up to €9,000 via Indiegogo. His campaign, which will run until 23 April next, has already raised US$3,000.

Finally, what’s the plan for getting the Rescuez product to market?

“The people I am looking to partner with are those in the pharmaceutical sector. You might have pharmaceutical companies that are producing specific drugs for patients with epilepsy or you might have a local pharmacy who is looking to co-brand to associate their name with their customers," explains Bosch.

He is also planning to talk to charities and organisations that operate in the chronic illness space.